Kroos, the Leader of Brazil Rout, Turns the Table

07/10/2014 - 10h51

Toni Kroos, the leader of Brazil rout, turned the table after scoring two goals and participating in other two. After two recent matches, the Bayern Munich midfielder felt the stigma of failing in decisions.

In the 2010 World Cup semifinal, a 0-0 draw, he had the ball on his feet at 24 minutes into the second half, but he fired badly. Three minutes later, the Spanish scored the qualifying goal.

In the Euro-2012 semifinal, he was assigned to man-mark Pirlo, but he failed, and Italy won by 2-1.

The match in Belo Horizonte was the peak of a great World Cup for Kroos, 24. He is one of the three German players who never left the pitch (the others were Neuer and Lahm).

The midfielder is the second most accurate passer of this World Cup, hitting 85% of the balls efficiently (443 of the 519) and is only behind Lahm.

The player was officially chosen to take corner kicks and he is the third top scorer of his team.

Schweinsteiger and Khedira were out of shape for the World Cup due to injuries, so Kroos was given the job of being the main passer.

Voted by Fifa the best on the pitch in the 7-1 victory over Brazil, he maintained the seriousness that is his trademark.

Questioned if he had played the best match of his life, Kroos said it was certainly the best with the national team, but he already had great performances with other clubs.

Translated by JULIANA CALDERARI

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